Easily Understanding Stomach Flu or Food Poisoning

stomach flu or food poisoning remedies

When you are having fever completed with nausea and diarrhea, some people might say that you are affected by food poisoning. But sometimes, it could also be caused by stomach flu that can come with viruses in your stomach. Differentiating between the two is very important to make sure that you will get the right treatment for yourself. This is more important knowing that stomach flu or food poisoning might have some particular symptoms that look very similar with each other.

Even though both of them are very common to happen to many people, food poisoning will usually occur more. Learning the difference between the two will help you determine the right step you should get to make yourself feel better. Here are some aspects that you can see to differentiate between the two.

Aspects to Differentiate Stomach Flu or Food Poisoning how to tell?

Stomach flu is actually a condition that is also called viral gastroenteritis. As the name suggest, this condition is mainly caused by the virus infection that happened inside your intestines. Usually, the symptoms that can occur in this condition include watery diarrhea, cramps on your stomach, nausea, throwing up, mild to high fever and aches around your muscle. The symptoms of stomach flu will usually occur around 24 to 4 hours after the body exposed to the viruses.

Meanwhile, the symptoms of food poisoning will not be very different from the ones above. You will also have fever, feeling of fatigue, stomach cramping and headaches. Usually, the main cause of food poisoning is the bacteria in your foods, especially the ones that are not cooked very well. The main different between stomach flu or food poisoning might be the fact that you will be feeling very thirsty while having food poisoning. Other than that, food poisoning is not likely to cause you nauseous, unlike the stomach flu.

One of the most dangerous things that can happen to your body while having stomach flu or food poisoning is the dehydration. If the condition is severe, the dehydration can actually threaten the life of the patient. Usually, you can check the condition by seeing whether you are having dryness in your mouth or a decrease volume of urine. Those are the main beginning symptoms of dehydration. Also, if you are feeling weak excessively, it might be time for you to get the correct treatment to get rid of the condition.

The other aspect that you should differentiate between the two conditions is the treatment that should be given for the patients. The very first thing that should be treated is the body fluids, especially after knowing that both conditions can cause severe dehydration. If you are having stomach flu, it should be good for your body to consume a lot of electrolytes to replace your body fluid. Sports drinks are very good for this. Meanwhile, fresh water should be sufficient for food poisoning as you should not interfere with the condition of your stomach with high sugary drinks.

For foods, you can consume the same kind of food to treat both condition, whichever it is that you are having. Experts recommended that you should prioritize eating food with low fiber as your bowel movement might be very active while having the condition. You should also avoid spicy and salty foods for a while. Lastly, bananas should be included in your diet as it will help you replenish your energy.

Stomach Flu or Food Poisoning remedies, treatment, preventing

So, you have learned that stomach flu is mostly caused by viruses while the food poisoning is caused by bacteria. This fact should make you understand that the prevention between the two diseases will be very different. And this is actually very crucial to make sure that you will catch the same health problems in the future.

To avoid having stomach flu, you should always wash your hand after you have been around people who are sick with stomach flu. This is because the virus that caused the condition can affect people around very quickly. If possible, avoid meeting people with the condition altogether. Or if you are very concerned about getting the disease, ask your doctors to give you vaccines targeted for the virus.

Meanwhile, food poisoning can be easily avoided by cooking your food correctly and only using healthy ingredients. This is important if you like eating meat and seafood. While a lot of people like to eat them raw or half cooked, it might be better for your health to make sure that you food is wholly cooked. You should also avoid cooking ingredients that have been spoiled, including fishes and even vegetables and fruits.

But if you want to get medication for stomach flu or food poisoning, make sure that you first consult to your doctor to get the best option there is. Never treat your condition yourself if you are not sure which kind of virus or bacteria that is infecting you.